(1) Field of the Invention:
This invention relates broadly to an outer garment, such as a jacket, suitable for golfers, runners,, hunters, etc. More particularly, this invention relates to an adjustable inner liner that is joined to the exterior shell of such garment.
(2) Prior Art:
There has been a long standing need for an outer garment, such as a jacket, that could be worn under different climatic conditions for diverse athletic activities. Such garment would enable the wearer to perform strenuous exercises, without having the sleeves of the jacket "ride-up" along the arms of the wearer, or the body of the jacket "gather-up" or "bunch-up", in unsightly, bulky, restricting, gatherings of excess material. While neither the sleeve movement nor the gathering of excess material is a significant problem to the average person, under normal conditions, such distractions are magnified in significance when the wearer is engaged in an event requiring skill and concentration. Thus, the slightest shifting of the sleeves of the garment may distract the golfer from successfully addressing a golf ball, or a hunter from shooting his prey, or a skier from executing a turn, or a tennis player from returning a hard hit ball, etc.
Additionally, the outer garment must be capable of being worn under diverse climatic conditions, so that the owner of such garment can wear same for several months of the year, in mild weather and in seasonably cold weather, with equal comfort. The outer garment must achieve its suitability for diverse athletic activities without sacrificing its attractiveness for casual wear, thus appealing to a wide segment of the purchasing public.
Manifestly, the objectives stated above have been addressed by numerous clothing designers over the years, and with varying degrees of success. In order to obtain adequate warmth for outdoor wear, one has had to accept bulky fabrics, which interfered with athletic activities, at least in some instances. In other approaches, exotic light-weight materials have been utilized that have priced the resulting outer garment at such a level that only the very well-to-do can afford to purchase same.
One attempt to address the conflicting demands placed upon the designer and/or manufacturer of outer garments for athletic purposes is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,112,788, granted Mar. 29, 1938, to Gordon W. Rosenberg. Such patent discloses an outer garment, such as a golfing jacket, that provides a maximum degree of freedom for the upper part of the wearer's body, while still maintaining a neat appearance. Rosenberg relies upon an elastic lining 7, 8 within the garment. The elastic lining, as noted in column 1, lines 19-33 of Rosenberg, urges the sleeves to a normal position relative to body 1 of the garment, and maintains the sleeves in such position until the wearer's arms or shoulders are moved. Cross-stitched connections 9 between sleeves 2 and extensions 5, and pleats 15 defined between the rear panel 8 of lining 7 and back section 1 of the garment, further enhance the ability of the wearer to move his arms and shoulders relatively freely.
The outer garment disclosed by Rosenberg, and by numerous others, appreciated that the outer garment might well be made in two major components, namely, an outer shell comprising the body with the sleeves secured thereto, and a resilient, light-weight liner. The outer shell could be formed of a material, such as leather or cloth, that would resist the cold weather, while the liner would fit about the body of the wearer. The liner could be made of a porous mesh material for comfort.
Although the elastic liner 7, 8 used in the garment disclosed in Rosenberg permitted the shoulder and back to expand, the sleeves, which lacked cuffs, would tend to shift on the arms of the wearer; such shifting would be accentuated whenever the wearer moved his arms in a swinging manner. Also, the liner 7, 8 was not adjustable, and would not always fit snugly about the body of the wearer.
Thus, it should be noted that no known outer garment has been able to satisfactorily address the oft-times conflicting demands of suitability for wear under different climatic conditions, diverse athletic endeavors requiring different movements of the arms, individualized fit, and reasonable cost. To the extent that such demands may be met by a single outer garment, and not by a collection of outer garments designed solely for one activity, such as golfing, or tennis, etc., the present invention represents a novel clothing design neither disclosed, nor suggested, by the prior art designers and/or manufacturers.
Such design places particular emphasis upon a unique inner liner that employs a resilient, yieldable insert in an unyielding, mesh-like back panel, and manually operable fasteners for adjusting the liner about the chest and stomach of the wearer. The liner thus serves to customize the jacket for each wearing, and the snugness of the fit pulls the outer shell into conformance with the body of the wearer. The garment thus does not "bunch up" or "gather-up" in the vicinity of the wearer's stomach and chest. The resultant garment follows the silhouette of the front side of the wearer, and allows the wearer greater freedom of movement during all endeavors.